


visits

by huhyouexist



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Anger, Angst, Death, F/F, Grief, One Shot, Promises, fulfilling promises, im in my death era, no beta we die like men, this is my headcanon and i will die with it, tyzula isnt the focus but it is hinted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:08:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29611965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huhyouexist/pseuds/huhyouexist
Summary: Azula often hid in the Garden of Tranquil Souls, away from Ty Lee and Mai while they played hide and seek.But why was she really there?
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	visits

_“Azula where are you?!”_

_“She always does this.”_

_“Oh come on Mai! It just makes the game more fun!”_

Azula can hear them squabbling in the distance, but she doesn’t move to get up. She doesn’t want to.

_“Do you...Do you think she’s in there?”_ Ty Lee asks Mai. 

_“Probably not. It’s disrespectful to play in the Royal Graveyard.”_ Was Mai’s answer.

_“Okay, let’s go check somewhere else.”_

Azula hears their footsteps along the stone path, fading into nothingness and leaving Azula alone with nothing but the faint sound of the wind in the trees. 

Her back was pressed into the familiar headstone she had come to visit. She comes here a lot since Ty Lee always wants to play hide and seek. It’s the perfect cover, and it makes sure that no one will disturb her. 

She picks her head up from under her curled in knees, letting them fall outward and down the stone arc. Her small hand places itself on the stone, almost affectionately. Well, as affectionate as she can get. 

“Hey Lu.” Her voice rasps. Her childish tone didn’t sound right while being here, it felt wrong. Too wrong and disrespectful.

Mai was right in saying it was disrespectful to play here. This was the Royal Family Graveyard. A place for the souls to find peace in their afterlife. Tranquility.

Azula didn’t want to disturb that. She only wanted to see her cousin without fear of humiliation.

She denies it, but she loved Lu Ten. He was more of a brother to her than Zuko was, and always made time for her, even when he was clearly busy. But when he died, and Iroh came home distraught, Ozai told her to remain strong. Crying in front of others was a weakness, something the Fire Nation couldn’t afford in this time of battle.

So Azula went to her next best emotion. Anger.

She lashed out at Iroh. Shouting at him because why was he here and not avenging his son's death? Why wasn’t he doing everything he could to make sure the people responsible for this paid?

Why didn’t anyone but her care about getting justice for Lu Ten?

Ursa had pulled her aside after the spectacle, saying how rude and disrespectful she had been. Something about Iroh having just lost his son and mourning had come out of her mouth too, but Azula didn’t care to remember it. Ozai had said it wasn’t a big deal anyway, that it was good to be angry, and to use that anger to fuel her fire bending. It would make her stronger.

Iroh lost his son, but Azula had lost her cousin. She’d lost her best friend.

After that, Ozai told her not to visit the grave. That she needed to focus on her bending.

But Azula wanted to see Lu Ten, so while she and her friends played games in the garden, Azula ran off here. She hid from them, and when she knew they were gone, she would talk.

“Father said my bending was coming along nicely.” Azula remarks, a small smile working its way onto her face. “He says I could very well be one of the best fire benders in the entire Nation.”

But of course, there was never a response.

That never stopped Azula though. 

“Mother yelled at me for burning a bush.”

“I lit my teachers pants on fire. It was so funny.”

“You’d like my friends Lu, their lots of fun to be around.”

“Ty Lee’s getting really good at flips. I’m jealous.”

“I learned about Sozin today? Did you know that he killed the Avatar? How cool is that!”

She would drone on for hours if she could, but eventually she’d have to leave. The sun always set, and Azula always knew if she didn’t come back, someone would find her, and then she’d be in trouble. She didn’t want to get in trouble, so she forces herself to stand, climbing down from the gravestone and bowing to it. Fist to palm, head bowed in respect, Azula repeats the same thing she does every time she visits.

“I’ll make them pay, Lu. I’ll get you the justice you deserve.”

When she stands upright, Azula only hears the wind blowing through her ears, and the faint chirp of birds in the distance. With a heavy heart, she leaves, mumbling, “I’ll come back soon, so don’t get too lonely while I’m gone, okay?”

No response. Azula knows she’ll never get one, but it hurts all the same.

-

Years later, after Agni Kai’s and royal banishments. After voyages over sea and fights with enemies, Azula returns to Lu Ten’s grave. She’s older, and more powerful, but the grief she still feels over her cousin is the same as that young day as a child.

It looks the same as the last time she had visited. Pristine and well kept. Azula had, very quietly, made sure of that. She wasn't going to let her cousin mold away in this place. Not while he still breathed air and her mouth could still produce words. So long as she held power over others, she would see to it that it was done.

“I did it, Lu.”

_Azula, Conqueror of Ba Sing Se_

Azula hadn’t planned on it, but once inside, she remembered her promise to Lu Ten. She realized that now was the perfect opportunity to make good on that promise, but no one could know of her true intentions. Instead, she masked them behind the fact that it was simply a good opportunity for the Fire Nation. 

She had brought them down from the inside, and now all of them were going to feel the consequences of their actions. They're going to realize just what they took from Azula, and what that meant for them.

He fist and palm meet once more, and she bows her head to Lu Ten’s gravestone, and Azula’s lips turn upwards in a victorious smile.

“I made them all pay.”


End file.
